Learn how to create PDF files in Adobe Acrobat 9, including how to convert many common file types to PDF, scan paper documents directly into PDF, convert Web pages to PDF files, and combine several PDF files into a single document.

This chapter is from the book

PDF is arguably the best file format for storing and distributing documents. It's compact, it supports a wide variety of content (including text, images, line art, and multimedia), and you can use it for free without incurring licensing fees. However, all this capability is useless unless you can conveniently create PDF files. This is the topic we address in this chapter.

When you install Acrobat, you also install features into your computer system that make it easy and quick to generate PDF files from within virtually any Macintosh or Windows application. Furthermore, Acrobat has many powerful features that let you create PDF files: you can convert many common file types to PDF, scan paper documents directly into PDF, convert Web pages to PDF files, and combine several PDF files into a single document.

In this chapter, you learn how to do all of these.

Printing to a PDF File

Acrobat makes it easy to create PDF files from any application. When you install Acrobat 9, you also install onto your computer system a virtual printer called Adobe PDF 9.0 (Figure 4.1). When you print to this printer, it converts the document being printed into a PDF file rather than producing sheets of paper.

The nice thing about this feature is that it works with any Macintosh or Windows application that allows you to print.

To print to a PDF file:

Choose File > Print in your application.

Your system's standard Print dialog box opens.

In the Printer pop-up menu, choose Adobe PDF 9.0 on the Mac or Adobe PDF on Windows (Figure 4.2).

Figure 4.2 You use the Adobe PDF printer by choosing it as the current printer in the standard Print dialog box.

Click Print.

A standard Save dialog box opens.

Type a name for your PDF file.

Click OK.

After a short while, you will see a newly created PDF file on your disk.

Adobe PDF Options

Adobe PDF defines a set of options, available through the Print dialog box, that affect the PDF it produces. Although Acrobat's default values for these options are the most sensible choices in most cases, you may want to look them over.

You access the PDF options from the standard Print dialog box by clicking the Properties button in Windows or, on the Mac, by choosing PDF Options in the pop-up menu just below the Presets menu (Figure 4.3).